When Two Unlikely Worlds Meet, Seokjin x Normani

Chapter Fifteen

The next morning, Normani woke up, feeling a lot better than she had the previous day. She was not normally one to fall ill, but the hectic schedule she had been keeping the past few months, coupled with the lack of rest, jet lag and climate change had overwhelmed her body, causing her body system to temporarily shut-down the evening before. She told herself that she owed Jin and his mother a major apology for her lapse in respectable behavior the previous night. Preparing to sit up in bed, she notices that someone had slept on the same bed as her the previous night, upon further inspection she recognized the now familiar face of Jin's mother. Not wanting to wake her up, Normani gingerly stepped out of bed and headed out the room to find the bathroom. Almost colliding into something, she looks up to find Jin standing outside the door. "Oppa, what are you doing here so early in the morning." She whispers to him. Jin doesn't respond but instead places the back of one of his hands to her forehead. Relieved by his findings, he then says, "you really had me concerned yesterday, I wasn't sure if I would be continuing to care for you here or rush you to the hospital this morning." Normani smiled sheepishly and apologized for the inconvenience she had brought. Jin then pulled her into an almost crushing embrace and said, "it's great that you look much better now."

Recalling that his mother was still asleep in Jin's room, Normani pulls out of his embrace to remind him that his mother was sleeping and asks for directions to the bathroom. Jin shows her were all the extra toiletry items were stored and hands her a bag of clothes to change into. He had rushed out early that morning to purchase the clothes, hoping he had gotten the right size, given the fact that women's clothes in Korea he discovered ran in very small sizes compared to American sizes. Surprised by the bag of clothes that Jin had handed to her, Normani was only able to say, "thanks oppa." She went into the bathroom to wash up and change after the very eventful evening she had had before. After getting dressed in the skirt and matching top Jin had bought her Normani stared at her reflection on the mirror with a smile. The outfit reminded her of a traditional Korean Hanbok, only this time in a skirt and shirt style. She admitted liking the resulting look to herself. Heading to living room, she found that Jin had also changed into his regular clothes, she offers to make breakfast as he seems preoccupied with sort of paperwork he was working on at his office desk, to which Jin agreed.

In the middle of her making breakfast, Jin's mother made her first appearance of the day. Jin greets her as she heads to the kitchen to see how Normani was feeling. Normani bowed in greeting as soon as she saw Jin;s mother and began to apologize for inconveniencing her the previous night. Jin's mother accepts her apology and asked how she felt. After ensuring that her fever had indeed subsided, she asked what Normani was making for breakfast. Normani indicated towards the rice, galbi, cold cucumber soup, scrambled eggs, kimchi, spicy stewed fish and sautéed vegetables. She also made tea and coffee and had cut some fresh fruit that she placed in the refrigerator to chill. Shocked at first, Jin's mother turns to ask if Jin had helped her with the cooking, but Normani replied that Jin had been busy doing paperwork at his desk. Normani then placed breakfast on the table while Jin's mother went to prepare for the day. When everyone was seated, Normani thanked them for taking care of her the night before and apologized if some of the food items did not have a familiar flavor as it was her first attempt at cooking some Korean dishes.

Jin's mother was the first to compliment her cooking, giving her pointers on how to bring more flavor to the galbi on her next attempt. Jin smiled proudly at his mother's compliments on Normani's cooking. The conversation then turned to what Normani did in the entertainment industry, her parents' occupations, how close she was to her family, her upbringing, age, birthdate, time that she had been born, her blood type and religious beliefs. Unsure as to the reason for some of the questions, Normani still provided the answers. When they were done with breakfast, Normani stood to clear the table and Jin's mother smiled in approval. As Normani moved to take the dishes to the kitchen, Jin's mother turned to him and said, "she was brought up well." Jin could not keep from smiling, glad that his mother was starting to see the qualities that had attracted him to Normani were not just purely physical. When done with the kitchen duties, Normani asked Jin's mother if she was okay or if there was anything else she could assist with before heading back to her hotel. Jin's mother surprised by the inquiry in Korean as the conversation prior had been in English, turned to ask Normani if she spoke the language. Normani told her that she was still learning it and Jin was her instructor. Pleased with this revelation, Jin's mother than asked if she was not in a rush, if she could lend her a hand, she had been planning on cleaning Jin's place that day before heading home to prepare for his great grandfather's kije.